My child has diarrhea and vomiting in Turkey — what should I do first?

Replacing lost fluid is the whole of the treatment. Keep breastfeeding, and give oral rehydration solution (ORS) in small, frequent amounts — roughly a teaspoon every five minutes at first, building up as it stays down. Small and often is tolerated far better by a vomiting child than a full glass at once. Do not starve the child: return to normal food as soon as it is tolerated. Most diarrhoea and vomiting in children is viral and settles on its own within a few days.

Can my child drink tap water in Turkey?

Municipal tap water in Turkish cities is treated and chlorinated, but most households here do not drink it — bottled water, or the large 19-litre refillable damacana bottles, are the norm, partly because of taste and older building plumbing. For a child who already has diarrhoea or vomiting, and for babies in general, use sealed bottled water. Make up formula and ORS with bottled water, or with tap water that has been brought to a rolling boil and cooled. Be aware of ice in drinks and salads rinsed in tap water when eating out.

How do I get oral rehydration salts in a Turkish pharmacy?

ORS is sold over the counter in every Turkish pharmacy (eczane), as sachets of powder to dissolve in water and as ready-mixed liquid. Ask for 'çocuklar için oral rehidratasyon sıvısı' (oral rehydration solution for children) — the pharmacist will know it as ORS. It is inexpensive. Do not substitute sports drinks, cola or fruit juice: they carry far too much sugar and the wrong salt balance, and can make diarrhoea worse.

Is the rotavirus vaccine given in Turkey?

Not on the national schedule. Rotavirus is the commonest cause of severe diarrhoea in infants and is routine in the US, UK and much of the EU, but in Turkey it is available only privately, with a prescription, for a fee. The timing window is narrow: the first oral dose must be started before week 15 and the course completed before month 8. Expat parents often assume their baby is covered by default here — it is worth checking the record at the 2-month visit.

When should a child with diarrhea or vomiting go to the emergency department?

Go without waiting if: the baby is under 6 months old; there is blood in the stool or vomit; vomit is green or bile-stained; the child cannot keep any fluid down at all; there is severe abdominal pain, high fever, or signs of dehydration such as much less urine, no tears when crying, a dry mouth, sunken eyes or a sunken soft spot, drowsiness or difficulty waking. Emergency departments (acil servis) in Turkey are open 24 hours at both state and private hospitals; the emergency number is 112.

Should I give my child an anti-diarrhoeal medicine or antibiotics?

Not on your own judgement. Anti-diarrhoeal medicines such as loperamide are not suitable for children and can be harmful. Most childhood diarrhoea is viral, so antibiotics do not help and can prolong the problem; in Turkey antibiotics require a prescription, and leftovers from a previous illness should never be used. Sparkling mineral water (maden suyu), widely offered as a remedy for an upset stomach in Turkey, is not a rehydration fluid and is not suitable for a dehydrated child.

For parents · Guide · English

Diarrhoea and vomiting in children — a guide for families in Turkey

A stomach bug on holiday, or in a country whose pharmacies and bottled-water habits you are still learning, feels worse than it is. Diarrhoea and vomiting are very common in children and are usually viral and self-limiting. There is really only one thing to get right: preventing fluid loss.

The treatmentFluid replacement — ORS, small and often

Water hereSealed bottled water for babies and sick children

NeverAnti-diarrhoeals, self-started antibiotics, maden suyu

Emergency112 · acil servis, open 24 hours

Stomach bug or something they ate?

You will see this called a tummy bug, a stomach bug, gastroenteritis, food poisoning or travellers' diarrhea, depending on who is describing it. Parents want to know which it is, but for the first days it changes nothing you do. A viral stomach bug and food poisoning are managed the same way at home — fluids, food as tolerated, and watching for the red flags below. What matters is not the cause but how your child is holding on to fluid. Most cases settle in a few days without any medicine at all.

Fluids: the whole of the treatment

Keep breastfeeding — do not stop or dilute. Feed more often, for shorter stretches.
Give oral rehydration solution (ORS) in small, frequent amounts. A practical starting point is roughly a teaspoon every five minutes, building up as it stays down. Small and often is tolerated far better than a full glass at once — a large drink on an irritated stomach usually comes straight back.
If your child vomits, wait about ten minutes and start again, slowly. Do not give up on fluids because of one vomit.
Do not dilute formula or make it up weaker than the tin says; make it up as normal, with safe water.

Replacing what is lost is the treatment. Everything else on this page is detail around that one point.

Which water to use in Turkey

The question every visiting and newly arrived parent asks, and the one where local practice differs most from what you may assume:

Municipal tap water in Turkish cities is treated and chlorinated. Even so, most households here do not drink it — bottled water and the large 19-litre refillable damacana bottles are the everyday norm, partly for taste and partly because of older building plumbing between the mains and the tap. For a child who is already losing fluid, and for babies generally, this is not the moment to experiment.

Use	What to use in Turkey
Drinking water for a sick child	Sealed bottled water (şişe su), or water brought to a rolling boil and cooled
Making up ORS	Bottled or freshly boiled and cooled water — never warm or hot water, and never make it stronger than the sachet says
Making up formula	Bottled or freshly boiled and cooled water, prepared exactly as the tin directs
Brushing teeth, washing fruit	Tap water is generally fine for a well child; use bottled water while there is diarrhoea
Ice in drinks when eating out	Skip it — ice is usually made with tap water

A note on the damacana: it is convenient and widely used, but the dispenser and the bottle neck need to be kept clean, and an opened bottle should not sit in the sun. In a holiday rental or hotel room, a sealed small bottle is the safer choice for making up a baby's feed.

Getting ORS from a Turkish pharmacy

Oral rehydration salts are sold over the counter in every pharmacy (eczane), as sachets of powder to dissolve and as ready-mixed liquid. It is inexpensive and needs no prescription. At the counter, ask for:

Turkish	English
Çocuklar için oral rehidratasyon sıvısı istiyorum.	I would like oral rehydration solution for children.
Çocuğumda ishal ve kusma var.	My child has diarrhoea and vomiting.
Kaç aylık / yaşında olduğunu söyleyeyim: …	Let me tell you their age: …

The pharmacist will recognise it as ORS — the abbreviation is used in Turkey too. Turkish pharmacists are well used to advising on children's rehydration, and most will ask your child's age and weight before handing anything over.

What not to give instead of ORS

Sports drinks (the ones marketed for athletes), cola, and fruit juice — far too much sugar and the wrong salt balance. Sugar draws water into the bowel and can make diarrhoea worse. This is the single most common well-meant mistake.
Sparkling mineral water — maden suyu or soda. You will very likely be offered this in Turkey with real conviction as the remedy for an upset stomach. It is not a rehydration fluid and it is not suitable for a dehydrated child.
Salty ayran or home-made salt-and-sugar mixtures measured by eye. The proportions in ORS matter; a mixture that is too salty is dangerous in a small child.
Water alone, in large amounts, for a child who is losing a lot — it replaces the fluid but not the salts.

Feeding

Do not starve your child. Return to normal food as soon as it is tolerated — early feeding shortens the illness rather than prolonging it.
Hold off temporarily on fatty, very sugary and heavily spiced food.
For a child already on solids, plain foods are usually well tolerated: banana, rice, apple purée, potato, plain yoghurt, bread.
There is no need to stay on bland food once your child is asking for their usual meals.

Do not do these

Do not give anti-diarrhoeal medicine (such as loperamide) to a child on your own judgement — it is not suitable for children and can be harmful.
Do not start antibiotics yourself. Most diarrhoea is viral, so they do not help and can make things worse. Antibiotics require a prescription in Turkey; never use leftovers from a previous illness.
Do not make ORS stronger than the instructions say, and do not mix it with milk, juice or fizzy drinks.

Signs of dehydration — do not wait

If any of these appear, see a doctor without delay:

Much less urine — in a baby, noticeably fewer wet nappies, or none for several hours.
No tears when crying; a dry mouth and tongue.

Sunken eyes, or a sunken soft spot (fontanelle) in a baby; skin that has lost its spring.
Listlessness, unusual drowsiness, difficulty waking.

Go to the emergency department if

Your baby is under 6 months old with diarrhoea or vomiting.
Blood in the stool or in the vomit; or vomit that is green (bile-stained).
Vomiting that will not stop, or a child who cannot keep any fluid down at all.

Severe or persistent abdominal pain; a swollen, tender tummy.
High fever, or any of the dehydration signs above.
Diarrhoea that is very frequent or drags on beyond a few days without improving.

The rotavirus gap — worth knowing here

Rotavirus is the commonest cause of severe diarrhoea in infants, and the vaccine against it is routine in the US, the UK and much of the EU. It is not on Turkey's national schedule. It is available privately, with a prescription and for a fee, and the Turkish Society of Social Pediatrics recommends it.

This catches expat families both ways: some assume their baby is covered here because it was routine at home, others assume it simply is not available. The timing window is narrow — the first oral dose must be started before week 15 and the course completed before month 8 — so it is a conversation for the 2-month visit, not later. Our English guide to the vaccination schedule in Turkey sets out the full national schedule and how it compares with the US, UK and EU.

Lowering the risk while you are here

Ordinary travel food sense, nothing dramatic — Turkey is not a high-risk destination, but small children are less forgiving than adults:

Hand washing before eating, and after nappy changes, does more than anything else on this list. A stomach bug spreads person to person far more often than through food.
At hotel buffets, prefer food that is hot and freshly served over dishes that have been standing.
Skip unpasteurised milk and cheeses made from raw milk (çiğ süt) for young children.
Peel fruit yourself rather than taking pre-cut plates; skip ice in drinks.
If one child in the family has it, keep towels separate and wash hands relentlessly — it moves through a household in days.

Nursery, school and flying

The usual rule is to keep a child at home until 48 hours after the last episode of diarrhoea or vomiting; Turkish nurseries (kreş) generally apply the same. If you are due to fly, a child who is still vomiting or visibly dehydrated should be seen before travelling rather than after landing.

Where to go, if it comes to that

Emergency departments (acil servis) run 24 hours at both state and private hospitals in Turkey, larger hospitals have a separate paediatric emergency (çocuk acil), and the emergency number is 112. Pharmacies take turns staying open overnight — the one on duty is the nöbetçi eczane. Our English guide to fever at night in Turkey covers all of this in detail, along with what to bring and further phrases for the emergency room.

Koç University Hospital — miniature diorama illustration, families walking towards the entrance — Emergency departments in Turkey are open 24 hours, at state and private hospitals alike — and are not refused on grounds of nationality or insurance status.

Turkish phrases for the visit

Turkish	English
Çocuğumda ishal var.	My child has diarrhoea.
Kusuyor, sıvı tutamıyor.	He/she is vomiting and cannot keep fluids down.
İki gündür devam ediyor.	It has been going on for two days.
Dışkısında kan var.	There is blood in the stool.
Bugün hiç işemedi.	He/she has not passed urine today.
Karnı ağrıyor.	His/her tummy hurts.
Ateşi de var.	He/she also has a fever.
ORS verdim ama kusuyor.	I gave ORS but he/she is vomiting it up.
Rotavirüs aşısı yapıldı mı, bilmiyorum.	I don't know whether the rotavirus vaccine was given.
İngilizce bilen biri var mı?	Is there someone who speaks English?

This page is general information for parents; it does not replace an examination or treatment chosen for your child. In an emergency in Turkey, call 112. Consultations at Koç University Hospital are available in English — see the English information page or book an appointment.

Trusted sources

🇹🇷 Bu rehberin Türkçesi: Bebekte ishal ve kusma — ne yapılır? →

Also in English: Child fever at night in Turkey → · Vaccination schedule in Turkey →